CBD-shy workers ordered back into the office from Monday to Friday doubles in a year
- New data reveals hybrid working arrangements plunging
- Number of businesses switching to full weeks in the office has doubled
- READ MORE: Aussie workers urged to claim $10K cash payments
The number of Australian businesses ordering workers back into the office for five days a week has surged in the last 12 months, according to new data.
Almost 40 per cent of full-time staff are now required to attend work in the office for the full week, shedding remote or hybrid working arrangements established during the Covid-19 pandemic.
This is double the number who were required to be in the office for the full week this time last year, according to research from recruitment firm Robert Half which surveyed 1,000 businesses.
Last year the most common working arrangements for the companies surveyed were hybrid styles - with 26 per cent of workers required to come in three days a week and 28 per cent, four days a week.
But it seems businesses are transitioning from this set-up back to full weeks with three and four-day hybrid arrangements dropping by roughly the same amount as five-day arrangements have surged.
Those on one and two-day visits to the office have remained steady and are on 4 per cent and 14 per cent respectively.
The number of workers who have retained full flexibility with their working arrangements - with no return to office mandates - are also steady at 14 per cent.
'The pendulum is swinging back to pre-pandemic levels where working-from-home was an anomaly rather than an expectation,' Robert Half Director Andrew Brushfield said.
The number of Aussie companies switching back to full-time work in the office has doubled to 39 per cent in the last 12 months
Hybrid working arrangements, such as three or four days in the office, have fallen over the same timespan
Of those employees surveyed, 90 per cent noted benefits to working in the office such as collaboration, access to resources, enhanced company culture and sense of belonging.
But almost as many - 84 per cent - noted drawbacks such as increased costs, less flexibility, heightened stress and poorer work-life balance.
'In the current workplace landscape where flexibility is the new high-level currency for many employees, not everyone is pleased with this change of direction away from remote and hybrid work,' Mr Brushfield said.
'Even with staff coming to terms with attending the office more frequently, the key for employers is to create an environment that highlights the positives of in-office work.'
